Lifton village, Devon

Lifton is a village in West Devon, near the confluence of the River Thrushel and River Lyd. It lies one and a quarter miles south of the A30 trunk road and close to the border with Cornwall.

Unusually for such a small place, Lifton is a post town and has several youth football teams. At Portgate is an inn, the Harris Arms, which was named after the local landowners, the Harris family of Hayne. Since they had moved here from Kenegie in Cornwall their armorial bearings include a motto in Cornish, which is 'Car Dew tres pub tra' (quoted from the Cornish medieval play of the Passion, which is translated by Charles Henderson as 'Love God above everything'.

The village was one of the first in the area to be founded by the Saxons, and was of strategic importance because of its location on a major route close to the border with the Kingdom of Cornwall. It was first recorded as 'Liwtune' in the will of King Alfred, in the late 9th century. It became the centre of an administrative hundred, and was a royal manor, passing into private hands when sold by Queen Elizabeth to local landowner William Harris of Hayne in the late 16th century. In 1755 the manor was inherited by the Arundell family.

There has been a church in Lifton since Norman times, although little of the existing St Mary's Church is earlier than the 15th century. The Arundell Arms is a well known fishing hotel, which was formerly a coaching inn known as 'The White Horse'.

The village was bypassed by the new A30 in 1993. Now peace and quiet has returned to the village and the visitor can enjoy a stroll around the settlements of Lifton and Tinhay and imagine it in it's heyday in the mid 1800's.

Agriculture and mining have supported the economy in the past. The dairy company, Ambrosia, has been based here since 1917. It was started as a milk factory, using supplies from dairy farms in the area. The factory produced dried milk during the Second World War and the site has been enlarged considerably, the firm now being an important local employer.

There is a village trail leaflet available from the shop in Fore Street indicating local points of interest.